Rufford Park Primary School

Reception Class Blog 2019-2020

23.03.20

Hello to all our Apple class families and children!

We had a very abrupt end to our school term and we were so sad to see the children go and not have a proper send off ! We do very much hope that school will re-open before the end of the year and we will see all our lovely class again. We made the most of our last few days together and the children had a lovely week playing outside and with our pirate themed activities.

In English we read the Rainbow  Fish story which was a big hit; the children produced some lovely writing around it.The children have a really good grasp of the Phase 3 sounds and are using them nicely in their reading and writing. We feel the children have really grasped the basics with the their sentence writing and we hope they will still be finding opportunities to practice whilst they are off school even if it is only a sentence or 2 about their day; we would love to see their work via Tapestry.

In Mathematics we have reached the number 11 number block and the children are becoming more confident with number bonds to 10. They are beginning to be able to write and work out their own addition and subtraction number sentences. In P.E we were sea creatures and practiced throwing and catching with medium and small balls they loved it!  Taking a ball into the garden to play with would be a great break for them. 

We will keep in contact with you via this class page and the Tapestry app where you can contact us. If you have any questions please do ask. In the meantime please keep safe and well!

Apple Class Team

13.03.20

This week, we have been continuing our topic on pirates. The pupils have especially enjoyed using the ICT Suite to create their own treasure maps! They've done a super job and practised using a mouse and a keyboard. 

In maths, we have been looking at the early stages of subtraction. We have been using "one less" to subtract or take away one from a number up to 20. The children have written some great number sentences on their whiteboards to show their understanding and to help them count back. We are also encouraging the children to recognise numbers 11 to 20.

We are continuing to work on phase 3 sounds for writing and spelling - please check homework books for more information.

Next week, we will be exploring "The Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister.

***STAY AND PLAY ANNOUNCEMENT***

Due to timetable changes, Reception children will be attending Celebration Assembly on Fridays at 9:05 for the foreseeable future. Therefore, we are no longer able to offer Stay and Play sessions on a Friday Morning. We would like to invite you to an afternoon Stay and Read/Play session on Wednesday 1st April at 2:45 until the end of the day.

We hope to see you then!

5.3.20

WORLD BOOK DAY

Today we celebrated World Book Day with a bedtime story theme. The children all looked fantastic dressed up in their pyjamas and had teddies and cosy cushions in tow. It was lovely to start our day with a Stay and Read session, thank you to all the grown ups who stayed it was a busy but very enjoyable session. The children made some bookmarks , made their own books and shared lots of favourite stories throughout the day. Later this afternoon Mrs Gallimore our school cook provided hot chocolate and biscuits for our bedtime story just before the end of the day. 

Earlier in the week we had a visit from the author Steve Weatherill who talked to the children about his work as an author and got the children acting out some stories. 

In phonics we continue to work on the phase 3 digraphs and trigraphs , we are now encouraging the children to spot them in their reading and use them in their writing.  Our book of the week has been "The pirates next door" by Jonny Duddle which has started our pirate theme in the classroom. In Maths we have been learning about different coins and using the language of money in our play. 

14.02.20

 This week we have enjoyed rounding off our work on transport , by thinking about vehicles that travel through air, on land and water. We had another lovely rhyming book for our Book of the Week, "You can't get an elephant on a bus" which the children found very funny. The children enjoyed asking and writing questions around this theme.

We continue to work on the phase 3 sounds and tricky words in Phonics, we have put a check list in the children's Sound Books for your information. 

In Maths we learnt about distance and length and the associated vocabulary. We had a lot of fun seeing who could jump the furthest ! The children made estimates and then found ways to measure their jumps.

Thank you for all those who attended Parents Evening we hope you feel informed about how your child is progressing. 

Next half term our themes will include Pirates and Under the Sea.

Have a super holiday and we will see everyone on Monday 24th Feb. 

07.02.20

We have had another exciting week in Reception! We have been learning all about the police force and have enjoyed having our writing table as an incident desk. We would also like to thank PC Willis for coming to visit us on Thursday to tell us about his job, answer questions about Road Safety and let us have a sit on his Police bike! The children listened well and asked him some interesting questions!

In our Literacy sessions, we have been reading Emergency! by Margaret Mayo. The children have looked at different types of emergency vehicles, what they can do and have described them in their writing.  In phonics, we have been recapping Phase 3 sounds, focusing on ar,  igh, or and ee. We have also learned tricky words my and her ready for our phonics assessments next week.

In Maths we have been working on doubling stars on a police badge and writing matching number sentences. We are becoming more confident with reading and using + and = as mathematical symbols every week!

Next week, we will be focusing on different modes of transport and measuring the distance our toy vehicles can travel.

Have a great weekend and we will see you on Monday!

31.01.20

The children have enjoyed playing in our Airport role play area this week. They have been pretending to pack bags , write holiday checklists and imagine they are off to warmer destinations. We were lucky to have a visit from Katie's daddy, Mr Chadwick who is a pilot at Leeds Bradford Airport. A big thank you to him - the children learnt a lot about planes and flying, it really brought our topic to life!

In our Literacy work we have been focusing on rhyme; this week's book has been Emma Jane's Aeroplane  by Katie Haworth. The children enjoyed joining in with the rhyming phrases in the story. We have also been sharing our favourite stories as a class and talking about why we like them.

We have now introduced the children to all the phase 3 sounds.This weeks sounds have been air, ear and ure, our tricky words have been are and all. We will be revisiting them in the following weeks to consolidate our learning. 

In Maths we have worked on the number 8 and 2D shapes. We made some super vehicle pictures. 

Next week we have a police and road safety focus and another special visitor!

Have a lovely weekend.

24.01.20

This week we have been learning all about Chinese New Year! We have looked at artefacts, objects, photos and celebrations from China. We made comparisons with Christmas and towards the end of the week, we tried prawn crackers! We have also learned about the Chinese Zodiac and acted out The Great Race. 2020 is the Year of the Rat and we have made Happy New Year cards and pictures. Our book of the week has been The Magic Paintbrush by Julia Donaldson. We have had some magic cloth to paint with water ourselves!

In Phonics, we have learned the sounds ow, oi and er and our new tricky words are they and you. You can find them in the homework books to practice at home.

In Maths, we have been adding sets of Chinese dragon scales together to find a total. The children are familiarising themselves with mathematical language such as equals, add and altogether. Perhaps they can show you their super number sentences and addition skills at home!

We are sending out parents evening forms and a class newsletter this week - please look out for them and ask a staff member if you need copies of either of these sheets.

Next week, we will be looking at airports and aeroplanes and welcome resources and knowledge from home on this topic! we are also asking children to bring their favourite book into class to share and discuss with others. Please talk to your children about their favourite books and help them select one to bring into school.

Have a fantastic weekend!

17.01.20

This week we had a very special delivery to our classroom, a penguin called Pog was delivered to us by mistake. The children have enjoyed finding out about where Pog lives and what his needs are. They have cared for him nicely and we wish him well as he continues his journey back to the South Pole. Our  Book of the Week has been Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers  which is a book about a little boy who finds a penguin on his doorstep. It is well worth reading if you are thinking of purchasing any books or visiting Yeadon library. 

In Phonics we have learnt the sounds oa, ar, oo and ur and our new tricky words are be and was. We are working hard on these tricky new sounds, finding them in words and having a go at writing them.

In Maths our number of the week has been 7 and we have been finding one more and one less. 

Today the children have a new reading book in their bags. We have recently invested in a new scheme called Big Cat Collins. It is aligned with the order of the sounds that we teach so supports our work in Phonics. We hope the children enjoy them !

Next week........Chinese New Year.

10.01.20

Happy New Year to all of our children and grown-ups! This week we have started learning some new sounds: ai, ee, or, igh . Please have a look at these with your children when we send home homework this week.

We have started a new topic this week, all about the North and South Pole. Our focus this week has been the North Pole - we discovered we'd had a visitor to our classroom over the weekend. The visitor had left behind a set of footprints and a few clues...it was a Polar Bear! the children have had a brilliant time this week learning all about Polar Bears, their habitat and what they need to survive. We even had a go at pretending to be polar bears hunting, swimming, sleeping and digging a den. In maths we have began to add numbers together and use + and = as mathematical symbols. The children have done a fantastic job of writing numbers for the first time and are starting to understand the vocabulary used in addition number sentences!

Next week we will be having a tour of the South Pole! See you then!

20.12.19

We have had a wonderful Christmas party today and a special visit from Santa! the children have enjoyed playing party games, having some food and chatting with Santa. Their manners and behaviour were excellent. We also enjoyed a special Christmas lunch! The children looked very smart in their jumpers.

We are very proud of Apple Class and have enjoyed seeing how far they have come in one term. We hope you all have a lovely Christmas break and we will see you in the new year!

16.12.19

Thank you to all who were able to attend our performance of  the 'Wriggly Nativity' this morning. We were so proud of the children and we are sure you are too! We are now feeling very festive and have spent the rest of the day making Christmas cards.

This afternoon we had a lovely session on our MUGA with a visiting P.E specialist. The children enjoyed a number of  team games and we had the added bonus of  bright winter weather, fingers crossed it remains dry for the rest of the week. 

Friday is the last day of term and is our party day and Christmas Lunch will be served to the children at lunchtime. The children can wear a Christmas jumper or top to school as well. What an exciting week!

!3.12.19

Apologies for the break in communication-we have had a few technical issues as the new website was being developed!

This week we have been busy preparing for our Christmas Nativity play. The children have been practicing their songs and lines using lovely, clear voices.

In Maths the children have been learning about 3D shapes and are beginning to develop their vocabulary around this. Our number of the week has been number 6, the children are becoming confident with number bonds. In Phonics we have continued to work on the new digraphs and tricky words that we have learnt . We have also been enjoying lots of Christmas activities around the classroom. 

Thank you to all who came to the last Stay and Play session of the term,  we will resume these in the New Year. See you on Monday for the show!

24.10.19

This week has been a very busy one in Apple Class. In Maths the children have continued to learn all about the number 3 and have been grouping and sharing picnic items. They have been practicing using the language more, less and fewer to compare quantities.

We have now completed our first group (Phase 2) of sounds and words in Phonics and the children have a checklist in their sound books for your information. This week we have taught the children the sounds h,b,l,f,ll,ff and the tricky words I and the.

As part of our work on healthy eating and Harvest the children all had a go at making some bread rolls; they enjoyed kneading the dough and seeing the changes after it had been baked. Perhaps we have some future Bake Off contestants! Thank you so much for attending our Harvest Celebration on Wednesday morning , it was lovely to see so many parents and grandparents. We were really proud of the children! 

18.10.19

This week, we have been talking about harvest and healthy eating. The children have been making their own food plates using art materials and talking about what "healthy" means. They have really loved using different materials to represent food. We have also started rehearsals for our Harvest Performance which will be held on Wednesday 23rd October at 10am in our outdoor area. We will be singing a few songs about apples and other foods. We hope to see you there!

In phonics, we have been learning the sounds ck, e, u and r and tricky words no and go. The children are picking them up well and practising them throughout the week. In maths, we have been identifying 2D shapes, counting their sides and corners and describing them using "straight sides" and "curved edges". The children have been working hard to use descriptive language to guess the shape that their partner is hiding!

10.10.19

This week we have had a super week based on the Supertato books. The children have enjoyed using positional language to describe where Supertato has flown to and helped tidy up after the Evil Pea had made a mess in the classroom. In the Finger Gym the children strengthened their muscles by using tweezers to move pea pods. They have made Supertato characters with potatoes and healthy food plates at the craft area. 

The writing area has been popular as the children were keen to use the new resources of super hero books, highlighters and capes to wear whilst in the area. 

The children continue to be enthusiastic about the new sounds to learn and seem to be picking them up well, thank you for all your support-it really does help! This week we have learnt the sounds g,o,c,k and the words and, to and into. 

The children are now coming straight to the carpet and are doing well with this change in routine, well done Apple Classes!

1.10.19

This week the children are really enjoying playing in the  "School Dinner Hall " role play area. They are enjoying serving meals and pretending to be Mrs Gallimore and the Kitchen team!

In Phonics we are continuing to build upon the sounds we have already learnt and are beginning to blend them to make simple words. Your support with practising these sounds is really helpful!

In Maths we are learning about the number 2 - everything we can do with 2! 

We would also like to say thank you to all parents and carers who attended our Curriculum Meeting on Wednesday. We hope that it has helped you understand how we teach phonics and maths in Reception and given you some ideas of how you can help your child. Please see our powerpoint and handout for more information or ask a teacher if you'd like further advice.

24.09.19

Super first P.E session in the Hall for Green Apples today. We changed into our P.E kit and kept all our own things organised! 

We learnt to use the space and follow to instructions whilst playing some simple games. Well done Green Apples!

24.09.19

This morning we were treated to a music session with a visiting music teacher, Mrs Truscott. The children sang some songs and joined in with instruments as she played her ukulele. What a lovely time we had!

20.09.19

We have had another fantastic week in Reception! The children are getting to grips with our routines and have done very well at lunchtimes in particular! Reception have also been joining the KS1 children during morning playtime and are growing in confidence here too.

This week, Red Apples have had their first PE lesson in the Hall! They have practiced getting changed independently and we played some fun listening and action games such as Traffic Lights and Back to Your Planet. They really enjoyed themselves and did some fantastic exercise too. Green Apple class will be having their first PE lesson on Tuesday 24th September.

We have started our Sound Books this week. Each Friday the children will be given some homework linked to Letters and SOunds to practice at home. Books need to be completed and returned on a Thursday. If you have any questions, please let a member of staff know.

10.09.19 - pictures to follow

Today, the children stayed over lunchtime for their very first school dinner! We were really impressed with the superb manners that we heard when the children asked the lunchtime staff for what they wanted. The children also managed well on our KS1 playground with the older children. 

Well done, Apples! Another milestone met!

If you are waiting for a link to activate your Tapestry account, please check your junk folders and ask your class teacher if you need any help.

04.9.10

Hello to all our new children and parents!

A warm welcome to Reception Apple classes and to Rufford Park Primary if you are new to our school.

We have had a lovely first few days and the children have all had an explore of their new classroom and begun to meet new friends. Hopefully you have activated your child's Tapestry account so that you can see all the things that your child is doing whilst at school. On this blog we will add some pictures and information to give you an overview of each week in Reception. 

This week and next week are all about settling the children into school and helping them to understand the routines. Just a reminder that on Monday (9th Sept) the children will stay until 12.05pm, Tuesday and Wednesday until 1.15pm so that they can have their lunch and from Thursday onwards the children are in school full time.

Please can you support us by ensuring that all your child's clothing and footwear are clearly labelled and that they bring their book bag and water bottle daily. Book bags are available from the school office.

We look forward to getting to know you and your children.